On the 24th of August The UK Government and Parliament published a response in regards to the UK Cannabis Legalization "Legalize cannabis use for adults over 21 years of age.." which can be read in full here.
Despite the public's best efforts to try and convince the government to take a closer look into the benefits that Cannabis may have for health patients they continuously refuse to take a different approach or further look into the facts and newly discovered scientific research.
Firstly I would like to take a look at the first paragraph from the governments response.
The evidence from the Government’s independent experts, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, is that the use of cannabis is a “significant public health issue and can unquestionably cause harm to individuals and society”. Legalising it would not prevent the crime associated with its production and supply, nor prevent the associated harms to users, their families and wider society.
The governments reasoning for their stance appears to be because there is significant public health issues and can cause harm to society and individuals but I believe the majority of people in society today know the benefits through either scientific research or anecdotal use. There's a multitude of legal substances that cause much higher damage to peoples health and society. For instance, Alcohol and Tobacco.
It is estimated that every 8 seconds somebody dies from Tobacco use. It is also estimated that if the current use of this legal substance is continued it could drop to every 6 seconds. quote
It was also estimated in 2012 that 3.3 million people worldwide have died due to the consequences of alcohol use quote. One can easily assume that number is not coming to a stop anytime soon. Even if there was a decline or a complete stop, the fact that millions have died should pose questions to the governments future decisions.
It is estimated a cannabis smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response. If we assume one pound of marijuana costs £1,500+ it's safe to say that would be one expensive feet. Good luck with that, I'll meet you at the fridge door when you give up and we can discuss your financial success!
Legalisation would wrongly signal that cannabis use is without risk, particularly among those who do not use drugs. It is vital that we prevent people, especially young people, from using drugs in the first place and intervene early with those who do start to develop problems. Making cannabis legal would be counter-productive to this action.
I believe the first sentence of this paragraph is completely false based on the fact that people know the dangers of legal substances. Everybody knows smoking can cause Cancer and Alcohol can cause the user to make very dangerous life changing mistakes and cause severe depression. Both of which are fully legal.
I completely agree with the governments stance on preventing young people from coming in contact with any substance just like how a young child should not be smoking Tobacco or drinking Alcohol. I believe this can only be achieved through proper fact-based education. Telling a child "it's bad, don't do it!" is not enough and only encourages use as it only poses curiosity when they hear conflicting stories among others. Educating a child and young adult on the medicinal use and benefits can help them make the correct decisions.
Indeed legalisation would carry its own administrative and enforcement costs which could be substantial. A system of this kind would continue to require resources from health services, enforcement partners and the criminal justice system to manage wider prescription and dependence treatment costs – including treating health harms of individual users; compliance activity and monitoring activities around production, demand and supply.
I believe learning from current Cannabis sales carried out in other countries such as the United States can help the United Kingdom develop a robust system to manage the health services needed. It is estimated that the United States could reach $6.7 billion within this year.
As can be seen in the image below. Colorado has seen a dramatic increase in revenue and decrease in law enforcement costs.
Although the numbers will be smaller due to the United Kingdoms population size this is still a very high number that shouldn't be overlooked easily. This could essentially provide more jobs to the UK job market while at the same time giving something back to those that need medicine the most instead of being treated like a criminal for a victimless crime.
I believe this could also provide the United Kingdom another solid infrastructure to help overcome the pitfalls of the recent European Referendum (Brexit).
Where claims are made for medicinal applications, there is a clear regime in place, administered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The regime enables medicines (including those containing controlled drugs) to be developed, licensed and made available for medicinal use to patients in the UK. For example, the cannabis-based medicine ‘Sativex’ has been granted marketing authorisation in the UK by the MHRA for the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis. Sativex was rigorously tested for its safety and efficacy before receiving approval.
The MHRA is open to considering marketing approval applications for other medicinal cannabis products should a product be developed. As happened in the case of Sativex in 2010, the Home Office will consider issuing a licence to enable trials of any new medicine providing it complies with appropriate ethical approvals.
I think it's great the United Kingdom has a regime in place to develop medicine but the manufacturing of these types of medicines comes at a high cost. Legalizing cannabis and allowing patients to grow their own medicines would reduce costs for both patients and tax payers. Generally patients who consume Cannabis look for specific effects that suit their conditions. Sativex only provides a very minute spectrum and may not be the all-in-one solution the patient is looking for.
For instance, those suffering from chronic pain may choose an Indica strain which is known to reduce pain and with each strain having various traits for pain relief usually the patient is able to determine which is most effective.
The Government continues to take action to prevent the harms caused by drug use – from educating young people about the risks to helping dependent individuals through treatment, and supporting law enforcement in tackling the illicit trade. We have seen a reduction in drug misuse among adults and young people compared with a decade ago and more people are recovering from their dependency now than in 2009/10.
It is clear that the war on drugs has been a complete failure. Drug use is still rampant and sales of drugs is still rising and converging into other sectors of the black market.
A new study found that Britain has the second highest online drug use in the world. The study was done on dark net markets, and was done on the number of transactions being done in various countries. In total, the number of transactions done online in Britain has tripled in just three years, coming it at a staggering 15 million euros a month. quote
The UK Government and Parliament ended their statement with:
The Government is currently developing a new Drug Strategy, working with key partners, including commissioners, treatment providers, service users and our independent experts, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, to identify what further steps we can take to tackle the issue.
What do you think the governments next steps will be and do you think we will be seeing legalization anytime soon?